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     On this chilly morning when we come together to celebrate the bodily resurrection of Jesus from the dead, everything around us shouts out one word loud and clear- LIFE! The clean white altar linens, the brightly colored flowers, the aroma of incense, the joyful music and the children bouncing off the walls because they already gotten into their Easter candy point us to the things we love and cherish the most: beauty, innocence, goodness and truth. The things which bring us real joy in this life have one source, Jesus Christ. By raising Jesus Christ from the dead, the Father makes that fact very clear. The resurrection has given us a new world, a new hope and a new life.

     You may think to yourself that the world does not look that new. There are wars and tragedies. There is sickness and death. Good people are suffering for no reason and the poor are abused and neglected. Where is this new world, this new hope, this new life? I don’t see it.

    The reason that we do not see it is because we do not see Jesus clearly. We may think that Jesus was just a person of the past, who is not interested in the world. We may think that Jesus is this taskmaster who asked more from us than we can ever give. We even think that Jesus is happy if we only do what we think makes us happy. None of these things gives us an honest picture of Jesus Christ.

     St. Peter gives us the clearest picture of Jesus in his sermon in Acts. He says clearly, that Jesus is alive, really alive, not a figment of our imagination, but through the grace of the Holy Spirit he lives among us in the Church, the world and in every baptzed believer. He is still with us becuase he knows that we cannot live without him. We need his wisdom, his compassion, his forgiveness, his encouragement. We most especially need his Body and Blood.

     Every day we face challenges. Some of us are carrying heavy burdens or confused or trapped in sin and we don’t know where to turn. We have good intentions to serve God but they get lost through all the busyness of the day. Every day we face the same question: Can I live without the help and grace Christ or not? Can I live without prayer and the sacraments, especially the Sacrament of Penance and the Holy Eucharist? Do I think my way is the most important, or do I let Christ show me a better and higher way?

     If the answer to those questions is yes, we can live without God, then we are really not among the living, because this Feast of Easter teaches us that there is no life, no hope and joy without the resurrection of Jesus Christ. God makes the resurrection a vibrant reality known to us by prayer and the sacraments. Real life is not going to happen without these things.

     The Lord has been raised from the dead so that we may be a people fully alive. We have been reborn through Baptism and in a moment we will renew our baptismal promises. Let us turn to the Lord and ask him to let us really live. Let us ask him to open our eyes to see where we are and let us beg him to make us into the people he wants us to be- a holy people, a united people, a blessed people, a people of the resurrection. Alleluia.

      As we keep vigil for the Resurrection of the Lord this night, God in his goodness and love bestows on his people Light, Liberation, and Life. We know that all throughout salvation history, God has been slowly preparing his people to become partakers of his divine nature. This history finds its high point tonight when the Church teaches us that the Father sent the Son to undo by his cross and resurrection what we had brought about through our sins. The resurrection marks the beginning of a whole new world.

     As we heard in the story of creation, God first created light, but through sin, we have chosen darkness. We also know that God created us with a free will to choose the good and avoid evil, but we chose to ignore the good and become slaves to our passions. Lastly, while God breathed into our nostrils the breath of life, we chose sin, which ultimately leads to death.

     All the readings and actions we do tonight clearly focus on not only the human race regaining what it lost, but raising us to the dignity of being children of God. First we look to the light. We began this evening in darkness before a large fire, and from that fire there was taken a flame to light this Easter candle. We recognize that Jesus Christ is our Light, the light that shows us the truth about God’s love, the light that warms us from its flame, the light which purifies in us whatever is not of God. Tonight those who will be baptized will receive the Light of Christ, so that they can make their way through the world confident that God will always be their guide, keep them warm in his love and cleanse them from all impurity.

     This night is also about liberation. We heard the story from Exodus of Moses leading the Hebrew people from slavery in Egypt to the Promised Land, with God fighting for them all the way. In a little while, before our Elect will be baptized, they will renounce Satan, announcing their intention to be free from sin and profess their faith in God. All of us then will renew our baptismal promises, in which we renounce again evil and profess our faith in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. God did not create us to be slaves, but a free people, configured to Jesus Christ through Baptism that we may inherit everlasting life. Tonight we call to mind again that our most important attachment must be to Jesus Christ, and not to the things of this world.

     Lastly, tonight is about Life. Real life. It is not about the one we might imagine or think we deserve, but true life, a life in which we are totally immersed in the love of God It is a life that will have the cross, but it will also having lasting meaning and joy. We see through the bodily resurrection of Jesus that Life is Christ, and in order to possess that life, we must die to ourselves and allow the Holy Spirit to dwell in us and seal in us the love of God in an everlasting way. Those who are to be baptized and received into the Church tonight receive the special gifts of the Holy Spirit through the Sacrament of Confirmation, and having been fully initiated are brought to receive Life himself, Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist.

     The great hymn to the Easter Candle, the Exultet, says it so well: Rejoice O earth in shining splendor, radiant in the brightness of your King! Christ has conquered! Glory fills you! Darkness vanishes forever! Alleluia! 

     Today and every Good Friday the whole world stands around the cross. The cross has been planted right in the middle of the world. The death of the Son of God is such a terrible and awesome thing that there is not one thing that is unaffected by it. Even creation responds with earthquakes and an eclipse of the sun. The world shudders at what the human race has done to the Son of God. Many people then and even today barely noticed what happened. Unlike years ago, when we Cathlics and Protestants alike stopped from noon to 3:00pm, the stores and baks were closed so that all could pay attention to what we have done to God, and what God has in turn done for us.

     Today many are shopping for Easter goodies and clothes and hanging around the malls killing time. They go home with full bags and hopefully an empty feeling. They have forgotten or possibly never been taught why this day is so important. We have gathered here to commemorate the Passion of Jesus Christ, venerate his cross and receive his Body and Blood becuase we know that God “gets it.” what does he “get?”  He gets that suffering and sin, loneliness and despair, sickness and death have absolutely no meaning unless He is a part of it. God gets it. The Father sent his Son to tell us of his great plan of the Kingdom and the elevation of the human race to a life of grace. We did not get it. When Jesus preached mercy, we wanted justice. When Jesus forgave, we hardened our hearts. Wen Jesus came to bring us life, we put him to death on the cross.

     Jesus knew that it would take his life to save our lives, not becuase the Father demanded repayment for sin, but rather because his love for the Father and us is so pure and perfect, Jesus would hold nothing back. For Jesus, there are no acceptable losses. All are to be offered the gift of salvation. As God and man, only he could restore what we have lost.

     Some mystics have written that it was not nails that held Jesus on the cross, but his love for us. The Blood and water that flow from his pierced side waters our dry and weary souls and give us hope that no matter what we face, we can conquer by uniting ourselves with Him who died on the cross for us. The Blood and water wahs away our sins and make us children of God. The Blood and water, the very life of God himself, is the true fountain from which we draw the strength, courage and hope to suffer out of love for one another and for God.

     As the cross is placed before the whole world this Good Friday, many may not know why Christ’s death is so important for them, but we “get it.” We know. As we stand at the foot of the cross with our Blessed Mother Mary. my we help others to know that Jesus Christ died for them. He gave himself on the cross so that we who love him will always have hope and light in a despairing and darkening world. he gave hmself on he cross for us so that we will have in our hearts the truest, purest, and most beautiful love that we can ever receive, the Love of God himself, who is Love.

Lord Jesus Crucified, have mercy on us.

     As we gather tonight to celebrate the Lord’s Supper, there are three very important questions that are answered for us: Where have we been? Where are we right now? Where are we going? This great sacrifice of Christ takes us from where we have been and we now celebrate it in the present as a promise of the heavenly Feast that is to come.

     Where have we been? In the course of history, God has made countless covenants with us, his people, and we have broken all of them. When it looked as if we were doomed to be lost, God sent his Son Jesus, who has taken our human nature and come to restore as man what we have been unable to do. He offered himself as a perfect sacrifice, an act of love that is so pure, so beautiful and so holy that it is unbreakable. The Jewish people were told to sacrifice and eat a lamb without blemish. Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, tells his disciples to eat his Body and drink his Blood under the humble appearances of bread and wine. With that action, which will be fulfilled on the cross, the apostles are given hope, freedom from sin, and everlasting life. The Apostles are instituted as priests of tjos new and unbreakable covenant and they humby serve the members of the Church by doing what Jesus did, giving them his Body and Blood for their salvation.

     Where are we now? We are not far from that first Holy Thursday night. As a matter of fact, we are at the Lord’s Supper tonight and every time we celebrate the Eucharist. Since this action has been offered by the Son of God, it has never ended. Christ’s offering continues until he comes in glory and so we pass on to others the scrament we have received from Christ, this loving action of sacrifice and share in the reception of his Body and Blood. We come here as members of his Body, with our joys and sorrows, our worries and hopes and like Christ, we give thanks for all that the Father has given us. We hear the Word of God with its challenges and consolations. We then present to the priest simple things, bread and wine, and through the invocation of the Holy Spirit and the words of Christ, we have in our midst the true Body and Blood of Christ, glorified and risen. There is no better place for us to be. There is no more perfect gift that we could ever receive- Jesus Christ himself, our food and our God. This great gift is given t us to give us strength, comnfort and grace right now, but there is still something more.

     Where are we going? our life on earth is just a beginning. We know that this life is just a preparation for the life to come, the life with God in heaven. this heavenly life has been described t us by the Lord as a heavenly banquet where we will enjoy the love of the Father, son and Holy Spirit forever. The Holy Eucharist helps us live not only in the presence of God right now, but it also forms us in the deepest parts of our hearts so that we will have the fullness of joy in heaven.

     The Body and Blood of Jesus Christ is our past, our present and our future. Let us adore his most precious Body and Blood. Let us also humble receive him with generous and loving hearts that he may make us a holy people, who love God and neighbor in word and deed, and who live our lives giving thanks.

    The outline notes for the second class are available for download under PDS 132 Sacramental theology. See you tomorrow

     Sacramental Theology students. I hope you have read the chapters for discussion in class. As I said in our first class, there will be a quiz at this Saturday It will probably have 30-40 questions, all of them objective. As a summary, here are some of the main points you need to know

Natural vs supernatural                The makeup of the human person

God as Trinity                                 Difference between person and nature

The purpose of redemption          Meaning of adopted sonship

Relation of redemption to Resurrection     Different kinds of Sonship

The questions will largely be true/false and multiple guess. Study Hard.

St. Lawrence pray for us.

   Monday through Thursday next week (March 10-13) Hope does not Disappoint will be played on Sacred Heart Radio at 11:00am.  

     The turn out last week at St. Vincent Ferrer and All Saints was very good. Better than I expected. The copies of the four talks are available on CD through Sacred Heart Radio. The total for all four CD’s is 20.00. You can call Sacred Heart Radio at 731-7740 or get on-line at www.sacredheartradio.com and click on “ORDER CD.” The talks turned out better than I expected, but I think the Lord had more to do with this than I did. All of the proceeds from the CD sales go to the radio station. I think it would be neat to sell 100 copies. Right now about 18 or so have been sold.  

Please pray for all priests and seminarians and support Sacred Heart Radio.